Barbara Dunlop - Overheated

What was she thinking? One of the things she liked best about Larry was that he saw her as a whole person, not simply as a sex object. Why would she do anything to change that?

Because she wanted him to make a move, she admitted to herself. And that was sadly hypocritical. He was one of the few men in her life who weren’t trying to get her into bed, and she was planning to vamp him with red satin.

She tossed the red dress on the bed.

“The blue,” she said to Rufus, holding it up in front of the mirror. “It’s comfortable and classy, and it’ll help me blend.” She gave herself a decisive nod then headed for the bathroom.

A shower, a blow dry and a judicious makeup application later, she slipped into the dress and clipped some aquamarine earrings in her ears. She paired them up with a plain silver chain and decided that her inexpensive watch was a close-enough match. She was heading for the bedroom closet to pick some shoes, when the phone rang.

Rufus followed as she padded to the living room.

“Hello?”

“Crystal?” It was her sister Amber’s voice, its tone high with excitement.

“What’s going on?” asked Crystal, glancing at the clock on the wall. It was nearly seven. She didn’t have a lot of time to chat.

“Zane called,” Amber said breathlessly.

“Oh, no,” Crystal immediately groaned. Amber’s ex-husband was never good news. When he blew into town, he was either drunk or wanted money, usually both.

“No, it’s good,” Amber insisted.

Crystal paused, her voice turning cautious. “What do you mean good?”

“He’s doing better.”

“Amber-”

“He wants to talk, Crystal. And I want to talk to him. He says he hasn’t had a drink in-”

“Stop right there.” Crystal plunked down on her couch.

“All we’re going to do is talk.”

“You know what happened last time you talked.” The last time Zane showed up, claiming he was a changed man and wanted to try again, he and Amber had partied hard. It took all of two weeks for the weasel to run through Amber’s savings account and break her heart again.

Amber’s voice hardened. “You never did like him.”

“It’s not a matter of liking or disliking.” It was a matter of decent versus dysfunctional.

“It’s not like there are thousands of men out there.”

“Actually, there are. Hundreds of thousands in North Carolina alone. Many of them good ones.”

“Zane’s a good one.”

Crystal sighed. They’d had this argument many times. “You’re beautiful, Amber.”

“No, you’re beautiful.” Amber nearly wailed. “You don’t know what it’s like.”

“I know what Zane’s like.”

“He’s a decent man, and a good father.”

“Don’t tell me he wants to see the kids.” Now Crystal was really worried.

“No,” Amber sniffed, and Crystal could hear the pout in her voice. “Not at the moment. He wants to see me. But I can’t go meet him without a babysitter.”

Crystal closed her eyes. Bingo. The reason for the call. “I can’t.”

“Why not? Just for a little while. You and the kids can have mac and cheese for dinner.”

“I have a-” Okay, it wasn’t really a date. “I’m going out.”

“Where?”

“None of your business.”

“Well, it can’t be more important than my marriage.”

“You don’t have a marriage. You have a loser of a-”

“You stop right there.”

Crystal took a breath.

“Zane may not be perfect,” said Amber. “But he was my husband, and he is trying.”

Crystal clenched her teeth. Zane was not trying. Zane was a loser lounge lizard who only showed up to mooch money, then left her sister in emotional tatters.

“I can’t babysit,” Crystal reiterated.

“Then I’ll have to think of something else.” Amber’s voice turned searching. “Jennifer is almost-”

“Jennifer is nine.” Crystal instantly saw where this was leading. “You can’t leave the kids alone, Amber.”

“She’s very responsible.”

“No. It’s illegal.”

Silence. Then an airy, “I guess I’ll think of something.”

Damn it. Crystal knew she couldn’t take the chance.

Their parents were rarely an option. If they weren’t working, they were sleeping, and they tended to subject Amber to lifestyle lectures if she was doing something other than visiting the local library. Amber wouldn’t call them.

If Zane showed up at the door, Amber might talk herself into leaving the children alone. Or worse, Zane might start the party right there in the apartment.

“I’ll come and get them,” said Crystal.

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” Amber enthused. “You’re the best sister ever.”

Crystal didn’t agree. A good sister would have been able to talk Amber out of this insanity. She wouldn’t have become an enabler.

“I’ll be there in half an hour,” she told Amber, punching the end button in disgust.

Crystal blew out a sigh of frustration, then dialed Larry’s cell phone.

“Larry Grosso,” came his crisp greeting. The sound of traffic was in the background, which meant he was already on his way. She felt terrible.

“Larry, it’s Crystal.”

His tone changed, becoming warm and friendly. “Hey, Crystal.”

Her body hummed in reaction to the deep baritone. She took a breath to combat the sensation. Nothing to do but blurt out the bad news. “I’m afraid I can’t meet you tonight.”

There was a silence.

“Larry?”

“I understand.” His tone was cool.

“How can you understand? I didn’t even tell you why.”

“If you’ve changed your mind-”

“I haven’t changed my mind.” Good grief, she’d been looking forward to this dinner for twenty-four hours. She wasn’t some flighty young thing who’d blow him off for a better offer. “My sister called. And, well, it’s complicated, but I have to babysit her kids.”

“I see.” He obviously didn’t believe her.

“It’s not an excuse,” she insisted. “It was a…kind of…emergency.” Emergency stupidity? Was there such a thing?

“How old are the kids?” asked Larry, his tone mellowing ever so slightly.

“Jennifer’s nine and David is seven.”

“We can bring them along.”

“To Rouladen’s?”

“Well, obviously not to Rouladen’s. What about Pizza Heaven?”

Something warmed in Crystal’s chest. “You’d take me to Pizza Heaven?”

“Sure.”

“With two kids in tow?”

“The kids would be the one and only reason to pick Pizza Heaven.”

Crystal laughed. “You mean you don’t want to play Bop-the-Mole or jump around in the ball room?”

There was a pause on Larry’s end of the phone. “I want to hang out with you. I don’t much care where we do it.”

Her heart warmed some more. “You’re a very nice man, Larry.”

Another pause. “Well, thanks for that. I’ll be there in five minutes.”

“I’m going to have to change,” she warned him.

“Oh, no you don’t. If I’m showing up at Pizza Heaven in a suit, you’re wearing whatever it is you’ve got on.”

Crystal glanced down at the shimmering blue dress. “Well, thank goodness I didn’t go with the red.”

“The red?” he asked, interest clear in his tone.

“It’s a little flamboyant.”

“Yeah?”

“Guaranteed to turn heads.”

“Put it on.”

“I’m not going to put it on for Pizza Heaven.” But another buzz went through Crystal’s body.

Were they flirting? This definitely felt like flirting. Which was okay with her.

His tone went low. “Put it on for me.”

She was tempted. She was honestly tempted to do just that.

JENNIFER AND DAVID ORDERED kid’s combos that came with a soft drink and an ice-cream sundae, while Crystal and Larry split a pepperoni pizza and went with the beer that was on tap. Although she’d stuck with the blue dress, they’d drawn a few looks on their way in. But then Larry had slipped off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, and now they blended somewhat with the crowd of young families.

Crystal was impressed with Larry’s relaxed manner around the children.

Once David had discovered Larry consulted on the space shuttle program, Larry became his new hero. He’d peppered Larry with questions all through dinner. Even Jennifer seemed impressed.

David announced he was going to be an astronaut, and Jennifer allowed that some things about math were cool.

As the meal wound down, Larry nodded to the display board above the counter. “Can anybody tell me which price is the best deal for games tokens?”

Jennifer and David quickly swiveled on their wooden bench seat, studying the numbers. Tokens were four for a dollar, nine for two dollars, twenty-five for five dollars, and fifty-five for ten dollars.

David peered hard, then looked to Jennifer.

“Fifty-five for ten dollars,” she sang out.

“Fifty-five for ten dollars,” David gamely echoed.

Larry handed Jennifer a ten dollar bill. “For ten dollars, how many will you each get?”

Both the children’s eyes went wide as they stared at the bill.

Jennifer bit her bottom lip. “Twenty-seven,” she said. Then she grinned at Larry. “And you can have the extra one.”

He smiled back. “Good answer.”

The kids looked to Crystal for permission. “Go ahead and have fun,” she told them.

They instantly scampered away.

“That was very nice of you,” she said to Larry.

He took a sip of his beer. “I wish you’d quit calling me nice.”

“You are nice.”

“Nice is boring.”

“You’re not boring. You helped with the space shuttle.”

“That seemed to impress the kids more than it impressed you.”

Crystal leaned an elbow on the table and rested her chin against her hand, gazing up at him with a grin. “Go figure.”

“Yeah? What would it take to impress you?”

“Rouladen’s would have done it.”